This isn't in the plan
by Seven Steps Closer
Summary: High School/Secondary School Teachers AU: The new academic year has begun and circumstances mean that English teacher Lavi Bookman has to share a mobile classroom unit with supply Science teacher Tyki Mikk. Maybe not the best recipe for a peaceful, uneventful year at school. Lucky Pairing.
1. A New Year Begins

**_Hi everyome! Secondary School AU where our characters are the Staff not the Students!_**

 ** _A bit of background info into the UK achooling system._**

 ** _So this is set in a Secondary School in England amd I will be referring to the holidays in England. We have 3 terms that are split by a week long half term break._**

 ** _Autumn 1 September 1st (for the teachers) to roughly the last week of October. (One week half term hols)_**

 ** _Autumn 2 End of October to mid-December. (Two weeks Christmas holidays)_**

 ** _Spring 1 January to mid-february. (One week half term hols)_**

 ** _Spring 2 February to March (Two weeks Easter holidays)_**

 ** _Summer 1 April to the end of May (One week half term hols)_**

 ** _Summer 2 June to roughly the end of July. (Six week summer holiday!)_**

 ** _Secomdary schooling is 11 to 16. Further Education like A-levels is 16 to 18._**

* * *

 **Autumn - A new year begins**

For the first time in years Lavi Bookman found himself actually paying attention to Headmaster Leverrier as he gave the usual spiel about conduct for the new school year.

Due to haphazard airline schedules he had been unfortunate enough to miss the teacher training days at the start of the term, which left him severely uninformed off all the changes that were to take place this year.

All around the other teachers wore fixed placid expressions, although Lavi could see that most had that glazed look of daydreamers. Cross Marian was hidden from view, sleeping in the back row. Yu Kanda was sitting up prostrate, the very image of attentiveness, though Lavi knew better. Even the students were barely listening. Indeed it was only Lavi and the anxious first years who bothered taking in the Headmaster's droning and focused on his precision combed mustache quivering with each emphatically announced phrase.

"At Our Lady of Innocence nothing short of respect for the rule of law will be tolerated. The ABCs and numbers have already been shoveled into your heads by those apron-wearing molly coddlers you called teachers. The education you will receive at Our Lady of Innocence will be more than mere qualifications. You will learn…."

"…discipline, manners and respect. The keystones of survival as an adults," Allen Walker, a maths teacher, mockingly finished Leverrier's speech in Lavi's ear. "No wonder only the first years pay attention. Everyone else has heard it all before."

"Shh!" Lavi hissed impatiently, "When is he going to explain what happened to my classroom?" Allen simply rolled his eyes and turned to his other side to whisper to a pretty oriental woman in a tracksuit. She giggled behind her hand at whatever lame joke Allen just cracked. "And just who the hell are all these new people?" Lavi shook his head.

Lavi suffered a huge shock this morning when he turned up to the school grounds to find that the east side buildings that housed English, Science and Languages had all been scaffolded and blocked off with 'Danger! No entry!" signs. And sitting here now, he counted no less than three new faces including the woman next to Allen. The others included an olive skinned man sitting a row behind Lavi, whispering to Bak Chang, the Head of Science, and an older frizzy haired man who was somehow already covered in paint spots and had charcoal tipped fingers. Arts most likely, Lavi thought as he dared to take a sweeping glance of all the other unfazed members of staff and noted that none of the other English teachers were here. In his moment of quiet panic the olive skinned man looked up and caught Lavi's eye and tipped his head in the briefest of nods and a wink before turning back to the still preaching Leverrier. _Who the hell are you?_ Lavi thought confusedly at the newcomer.

"…We aim to create upstanding members of society and the journey to becoming just that starts with you. It starts today!" Leverrier paused for effect, "Finally, you will have noticed that there are significant changes to the school building this year. The Darwin and Bronte buildings will be closed to all students and staff as they are undergoing renovation until further notice. During this renovating period all Science, English and Languages classes will be moved to the mobile classrooms that will be situated in Owen's Field. All classes will resume normally and the short distance will not become an excuse for tardiness." Here Leverrier stopped to glare at the students. "Year 9 and 10 Tutor rooms will be based in the mobile classrooms. Remain in your seats, tutors will come forward and collect you. You leave this hall in an orderly fashion and continue this academic year in the same vein. Start now as you mean to go on."

"And all students are reminded that the Forbidden Forest is off limits," Allen was snickering again.

"What?" Lavi had too much too worry about already besides trying to decipher the maths teacher's jokes. Allen blanched at the question. "You're the English teacher," he said disgustedly. "Haven't you read Harry Potter?"

On the stage Leverrier turned rigidly on his heels and exited without even a glance at the teachers. Lavi wasn't a tutor this year so he didn't need to stay and wait for a class, he parted from Allen who would be with the Year 9's this year, and went in search of the rest of the English department. Mobile classrooms, bloody heck? How was he supposed to teach anything in a cardboard shack? And all the other teachers had probably already called dibs on the better positioned units. Dejected he went in search of his Department Head, Klaud.

"Chin up Lavi, the year's barely even started. Seven weeks till half term you know!" Bak Chang said jovially and fell into step beside Lavi. He clapped an arm around Lavi's shoulder and steered him out of the hall. "You missed most of the induction announcements yesterday so I'll show you to your new classroom."

"My new broom closet more like," Lavi sighed, "You'd think there would have been some kind of announcement before end of term last year."

"Last minute funding I reckon, so it all happened quickly. Hopefully it won't be too long, besides at least you English lot have a complete faculty. I'm down a couple teachers meaning I'll actually have to go back into the classroom this year," Bak shook his head regretfully.

"Really? Then how come you gave me your class lists yesterday Bak?" said a smooth voice on Lavi's other side. He looked up to see the olive skinned teacher who had winked at him. Up close Lavi saw that he looked to be a little older than himself, early thirties maybe? The new teacher extended a hand and treated Lavi to another wink and a playful smile. "Tyki Mikk, supply science teacher. Pleasure to meet you."

Lavi couldn't help but reciprocate the smile as he shook Tyki's hand. "Lavi Bookman, English. Overloading the supply staff already Bak?" he said turning back to Bak.

"Well, Tyki here seems competent enough, and of course I'll be running interventions and other things…" Bak trailed off helplessly as Lavi and Tyki shared a knowing look. The Department Head cleared his throat authoritatively to put an end to those glances. "Anyway, now that you two have been introduced I may as well leave you to sorting out your classrooms together. Because of limited space you two will be unit 7 at the back of the field and as you've already been there Tyki, you can show Lavi where to go. And Lavi you know where the stockroom is so you can show Tyki where to find all the equipment he needs will be. The students will be doing team-building activities with their tutors today so you're free to set up your rooms. See you at lunch." Bak waved goodbye and ran to catch up with Komui Lee, the Deputy Head.

"Lead the way sir," Tyki flashed a brilliant smile at Lavi.

"So how long are you going to be with us Mr. Mikk?" Lavi asked cordially as they made their way to the stock rooms. To get there they would have to leave the auditorium and cut across the quad and into the design tech building. Usually Lavi would have cut through the connecting tunnel from science block directly to the third floor stock rooms, but as that route was currently out of bounds, the long way round would have to suffice.

"Not entirely sure, signed on for this term at least. But please call me Tyki, unless there's a rule about using first names," Tyki offered and then raised a brow at the chortle the comment received.

"I think you'll find the only one with a rule about first names is Yu Kanda, the PE coach, but most people steer clear of him anyway," Lavi pointed out the dark haired PE coach from across the quad and explained the mortal dangers that one would face if they were to use the coach's first name. "One time I called him by his first name accidently during a class and found myself the sole target of a dodge ball game," he recounted with a shiver.

"Yikes, sounds bad," Tyki commiserated. "That's a shame, he's actually kind of hot."

"Yeah, if you're into that I guess," Lavi laughed. Most people agreed that Kanda was good looking, so it wasn't unusual for the supply teacher to comment on the PE coach. "Come on, let's hurry up or there'll be nothing left."

As they walked, Lavi stopped to greet staff as they made the return journey from the stock room, arm laden with books, pencils and other bits of stationary. Noting the volumes of stationary being carried out, the pair stepped up their speed, the worrying thought of finding an empty stock room becoming ever more likely. As it was they ended up at the back of a long queue and were the last to enter the now near empty room. Luckily the class sets of exercise books required for their classed were there and the two started loading plastic boxes with what they needed.

Laden with all the supplies they could scavenge, Lavi led them back to the quad and from there Tyki directed them to their mobile unit at the far end of the field.

"Damn," Lavi whistled, setting his box down on the small rectangle that was posing as a desk. He shook out his arms to loosen the taut muscles from carrying the heavy load all this way. "Guess we can expect our classes to be arriving at least ten minutes late to every lesson."

"Don't see why you think that's a problem," Tyki chuckled from across the narrow gap of a corridor between their rooms. Lavi frowned that it should be so easy to hear him. Soon the sound of the radio filtered through the stereos in Tyki's room and into Lavi's. "Hope this is okay, I can't really work in silence."

Ignoring his own reservations for the sake of being good-natured, Lavi told him not to worry about it and instead plugged in his own earphones and threw himself into customising his room. The silver lining in this all was that for at least for this term he wouldn't have to share a classroom with another teacher. Nor would he find himself running between different rooms each period. First job was to set up the computer and get printing. He backed and labelled his boards ready to display work hoping that the new buildings would have enough classrooms. Timetables, year plans and learning aids would wallpaper the surfaces tastefully before he was finished today.

It was a productive morning, making up for the missed time yesterday. Lavi was just adding the finishing touches to his last board, a useful guide on how to annotate effectively, when he noticed Tyki examining his student communication display. Pulling out one ear bud, Lavi joined him behind the front desk.

"InstaThink?" Tyki poked the little cardboard camera.

"Yeah, like the social media," Lavi confirmed, dropping his staple gun into a draw. "Last year I had the "Twit Feed". The kids loved it. Even the older ones; they pretended it was naff but I know for a fact more than a few of them left questions and comments."

"Nice interactivity, I might magpie it one day," he clapped Lavi on the back. "I'm covering in Year 9 this afternoon, just got the call. Someone's had to go home sick. A room full of 13 year olds on the first day back, I'd probably go home sick too."

"Supply teachers get all the skivvy work," Lavi found himself returning Tyki's grin.

"You've done really good in just a couple of hours," Tyki took a last around the room from the door. His curious gaze made Lavi slightly uncomfortable and a little bit defiant over how much effort he was putting into the plywood shack of a classroom. "So guess I'll see you around Mr Bookman."

"See you around Mr Mikk."

Lavi smiled to himself, it was a rocky start this morning but things were falling into place. A pastel pink square at the bottom of the InstaThink board caught his attention. He bent down for a closer look. His smile broadened, reaching all the way into his chest.

"Happy New Year"

Every year started like this: hopeful.

It never lasted long.

* * *

 **See you at half term!**


	2. Lying to yourself is still dishonest

As far as bad choices went calling his ex in a fit of frustration for stress relief was quite high on Lavi's personal scale, yet that wasn't the worst of his choices these past 24 hours. Sipping on his coffee Lavi reflected on the events of the past week that to this. It had been a shitty week full of deadlines and that nuisance of a supply teacher had not made it easy. Already this week he'd had to deal with getting in half an hour earlier because Tyki Mikk kept taking his favourite parking spot and not too mention the endless parade of preteens who kept clogging the tiny corridor they shared to get gawp at the supply teacher.

Lavi shook himself and listened to the shower running and knew that letting said ex stay the night was the worst decision of the night. Now there was no chance he would win the parking spot or his dignity. But as much as Lavi wanted to hate himself when Cyril entered the kitchen sporting nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist he decided that there were worse ways to start a day.

Cyril smirked at Lavi and sauntered over to him, took the mug from his hand, set in on the table before placing one palm on the counter on either side of Lavi's hips and leaned in until they were close enough for Lavi to count the water droplets beading his neck. Unfazed, Lavi raised an eyebrow and stared back at him.

"Good morning," Cyril said in a low rumble before capturing Lavi's lips into a slow, languid kiss. Yes there were definitely less enjoyable ways to start a morning than with his arms draped around muscular shoulders and sharing lazy kisses with a tall, dark and handsome man. Best start since September began.

Lavi closed his eyes and allowed his lover's wondering hands to draw a contented sigh from his lungs. "Cy… you're going to make me late," Lavi complained weakly and half-heartedly pushed Cyril backwards which achieved little except to spur on the passions of the other man. "I have to go to work – Ah! Did you just bite me?"

Shoving Cyril more forcefully this time, Lavi dashed to the hallway rubbing the space between his neck and shoulder. An angry red patch stood out against his already flushed skin; it was no more than a nip albeit a sharp one. The sight of it brought him firmly back to his senses. He was going to have to do his buttons up to the collar to hide that at school today.

Behind him, Cyril laughed lightly. "Just a little souvenir of our night," he said with a wink.

"I'll be sure to treasure it," Lavi angrily as he adjusted his shirt collar to cover the lewd mark. "This isn't happening again."

"Don't be like that," Cyril nosed into the crook of Lavi's neck and shoulder and pulled him into a back hug. "I've missed you! And judging from last night, you've missed me too."

Lavi groaned; good start ruined. Why did Cyril possess the perfect knack of ruining every moment? Hardening his heart Lavi stepped out of the embrace. "Should have thought about that before hooking up with Marco from the tanning shop or that slut Tommy. Shall I go on?"

"Okay, so downgrade to booty call. I can live with that," Cyril mused in a tone that made Lavi want to punch him.

Lavi shrugged on his coat and grabbed his bag, taking his time to adjust the strap before glancing back at Cyril who was helping himself to Lavi's cupboards. "Your clothes are in the washing machine and the door will lock itself after you." Fresh autumn breeze came through the door as Lavi inched it open. He turned back, "Don't be here when I get back."

Just as he thought, Lavi lost his spot and was forced to park on the far side of the lot. From the moment he stepped into the crappy little mobile classroom, he began counting the minutes until the end of the day. He found it increasingly difficult to concentrate and was more than grateful when the fire alarm sounded halfway through first period. Walking the overexcited adolescents across the playing fields to the assembly point, the square in front of the main building, gave him time to reflect on his terrible handling of Cyril this morning. Such was his distraction that he didn't notice when the supply teacher walked up alongside him.

"Cheer up, it might never happen."

"Huh?" startled Lavi struggled to respond. The classes mingled happily behind them.

Tyki Mikk smiled pleasantly at him. Damn him and damn his perfect teeth. "You look like you're contemplating the end of the world. Everything alright?"

"Just peachy," he said tersely then turned away from the unwanted concern. "Right, straight line and wait to be counted. Daryl bring me the Contact Sheet." Lavi busied himself with the fire drill routine and once he had completed them he left the class to join Allen. The supply teacher followed him.

"Practice or for real, what do you reckon?" Lavi asked in an attempt to be civil.

Tyki shrugged, "Leverrier isn't here, neither is Marian. Could be a real one."

"Don't get your hopes up for an evacuation fellas," Allen added as the pair drew closer. "I heard it was the twins with some smoke bombs in the French corridor. Probably give it another ten minutes and it'll back to business as usual."

Lavi nodded, tonight was Bonfire Night after all. Tensions always ran high at this time of year, so it was no surprise that some bright sparks decided to get started early.

The three teachers talked companionably, from time to time giving the crowd a sweeping glance in the guise of keeping order. The weather had not quite turned yet and the air was warm so it was a pleasant break for students and staff alike. After a while, Lavi noticed that Allen's eyes kept flicking in a certain direction. He clapped the maths teacher on the back and steered him around, his significant height advantage made it an easy task.

"Another longing stare and you'll be certified stalker material," Lavi teased him. A red blush suffused Allen's usually pale face. "Why haven't you asked her out yet?"

Since the beginning of the year, Allen had subjected Lavi to countless spiels on the many virtues of Miss Lenalee Lee. According to Allen she was the kindest, gentlest masterpiece of womanhood to have ever graced the teaching staff of Our Lady of Innocence. While she certainly was a sight for sore eyes with her cropped hair and long legs, Lavi had seen her push the athletics team and did not envy them.

"Between the two of them, is it any wonder that PE is everyone's favourite subject," Tyki noted. Lavi followed his eyes to Yu Kanda who was nodding to something Lenalee was saying to him, a permanent scowl drawn across his features.

"There're a fair few science enthusiasts coming up this year," Allen said grudgingly.

Tyki chuckled, "I don't know about that Allen, but I can tell you Kanda isn't one of them."

"You asked out Kanda?" Allen asked incredulous. Unwillingly intrigued, Lavi cocked his head for the answer. "How did that turn out for you?"

"It's not what you think Allen. We just went for a drink after work once," Tyki explained. Lavi looked away uncomfortably when they made eye contact. "Just talked about stuff and just figured Kanda would be a lost cause to pursue."

"It's makes the rest of us average guys look bad when a guy like you gets turned down," Allen said wistfully. "Wait Tyki, on a scale of 1 to 10 how attractive am I? Would you want to date me?"

The supply teacher laughed loudly, "Let's just say if you weren't so set on Miss Lee over there, I'd be into it. What do you think Lavi?"

"Me?" discomfited Lavi looked between the two expectant faces; Allen naively so but Tyki was unreadable. "I think us average guys need to be braver, just bite the bullet and ask her out. What's the worst that can happen?"

"Exactly, what's the worst that could happen from a little bit of honesty?" Tyki said although Lavi couldn't be sure who the question was directed at.

At that moment the bell for second period rang so Tyki and Lavi said goodbye to Allen and made their way back to their mobile unit in an awkward silence that only Lavi seemed to be aware of.

The morning had already been so badly disrupted that Lavi couldn't bring himself to care when half of the class forgot to bring in their character descriptions of Macbeth and in the last period before lunch, Lavi gave up all pretenses of teaching entirely and led his class out to the field for an impromptu poetry reading session. Student led of course, which gave him more time to wallow in self-loathing. Why was he finding it so hard to end his toxic relationship with Cyril Kamelot? It always played out the same. Lavi let him back in only to have him the man walk all over his heart and dignity once more. He had thought returning home alone after that shambles of a summer holiday was the end.

Why did he have to be the weak one and call Cyril last night? And what the hell was up with Tyki Mikk?

The fresh air revived him a little but only until they returned to class to find the sour smell of vinegar wafting through the mobile class unit. By that time he was more than happy to call an early end to the lesson and vacate the classroom.

"Penny for them?"

"Excuse me?" For the second time that day Lavi was shocked out of his internal torment. Allen dropped into the seat beside him with all the force of a minor tornado and pulled a huge, overstuffed burrito from his bag. A sideways inspection left Lavi with the impression that the maths teacher had rolled up slices of last night's pizza for lunch.

"What are you deep in thought about? You've hardly touched your lunch," Allen gestured at the tray of uneaten canteen lasagna. The grave disapproval on his face won a chuckle from Lavi. Wasting food was an unforgivable offence to Allen Walker.

"Six more Fridays until Christmas," he said wistfully and picked a piece of tomato out of the side salad to appease Allen's accusing glare. "How was your morning?"

"Just saying, thank god it's Friday. It might be the first week of the half term but this week has dragged," Allen lamented through a mouthful of pizza burrito. "I had Year 9 try to refuse homework because it goes against their work-life balance. Little shits."

"What did you do?" Lenalee Lee, the new PE coach asked from across the table.

Allen took another large bite and swallowed it whole before answering. His mouth turned up at the corners into a devilish grin, "I told them I completely agree. It's really unfair to ask them to take work home and do it in their evening."

"So you didn't set any homework then?" Lavi shook his head at the innocence of the PE teacher. He nudged Allen under the table; he had Lenalee's full attention. Now was a good time as any to impress her with his excellent classroom management.

"Wait for it," he advised her, cocking his head at Allen who was gleefully demolishing his lunch. At that moment Yu Kanda and Tyki Mikk entered the staffroom and joined them at the table. Kanda sat down beside Lenalee who greeted him warmly. Lavi watched Tyki walk to the sink and wash his hands vigorously. The force of stare must have alerted Tyki as he looked up and smiled guiltily at him, which made it hard for Lavi to do anything other than return the benign gesture.

"I suppose I have you to blame for the delightful vinegar scented classroom," Lavi successfully managed to turn the scorn into amusement. At least the other man had the decency to appear apologetic.

"Sorry about that, we're doing acids and bases this half term. I thought the old vinegar and bicarb balloon trick would keep them amused. Didn't realize how bad it smelled until we were leaving the class," Tyki said as he took his lunch from the fridge and occupied the empty seat between Kanda and Lavi. "Turn your fan on, that should do the trick."

"Mine doesn't work," Lavi said flatly.

"Oh…"

Thick woolly tension filled the staffroom, faltering Allen's story. Even Kanda scowled inquisitively at Lavi. Thankfully Lenalee quickly filled in the silence. "Allen was just telling us that his Year 9s are refusing to accept homework."

All eyes shifted back to Allen. "Oh yeah, where was I… So I told the class that I completely agree, work-life balance is important. So instead of homework I'll be running a mandatory Saturday 'homework' club. Any material we are unable to cover because they haven't done their homework, we'll just cover it on Saturday."

"Seriously?" Lenalee laughed, "Why would you do that to yourself?"

There was mischievous gleam in Allen's eyes. "Because I can," he stated smugly.

"Wait," uncharacteristically Kanda joined in the conversation, "Is this the class with Brandon Howell?" Allen nodded, still looking pleased with himself. "You can't have him. The basketball team meets on Saturdays."

"Well he'll just have to miss a couple of sessions," Allen sat up straighter. "He was the smartass who insisted that homework was so unnecessary."

Standoffs between these two were so regular that even Lenalee was used to the sight of the pair staring daggers at each other. Lavi returned his attention to his lunch, he had eaten two forkfuls of lasagna when he became uncomfortably away that Tyki was eying him. He rubbed his neck self-consciously and immediately regretted it.

Tyki leaned over, concerned. "I didn't realize the vinegar would affect you that badly. Your neck's gone all red. Looks painful."

"It's fine," Lavi brushed off the concern and rubbed at his neck, irritated by Tyki's attention more than anything. Meanwhile Lenalee was acting as mediator between Allen and Kanda.

"If we move basketball practice an hour earlier then both clubs can happen. I'm sure the maths won't be running long anyway. Just until the kids realize Saturday lie-ins are worth more than homework," Lenalee smiled at Allen. "And you can bring me a coffee as thanks."

Allen beamed. "And maybe we could do lunch or something?" he threw out hopefully.

"You're on," Lenalee said, picking up her tray and looking altogether too pleased with herself. "See you guys later."

"I'm not having lunch with you," Kanda spat venomously. The sharp angle of his eyebrows told them all there was nothing he would like less.

"I don't think he was asking you Kanda," Lavi shot at Kanda, earning a guffaw from Tyki.

It must have been the euphoria of having his invitation accepted that made Allen careless. "What's up with your neck Lavi, it's all red." He dove forward to pull back Lavi's collar to examine the spot. "Who's the lucky girl?" he whispered in what he thought was an inconspicuous tone.

Lavi yanked his collar back and refastened the top button; he didn't need the whole staffroom getting an eyeful of Cyril's mark. "It's nothing," he said curtly

"Doesn't look like nothing," Allen challenged him. "Not fair, I told you about Lenalee!"

There was a collective eye roll from everyone in the staffroom, including the MFL teachers in the corner.

"Everyone knows you have a crush on her," Kanda told him. "Even she knows."

"Oh…" Slightly deflated Allen sat back in his chair. Lavi slid the dessert off his tray and in front of Allen in a peace offering.

"Right, I'm off too," he announced and left the room.

At the top of the stairs Tyki caught up with him. "Hey, just wanted to say I'm sorry. About the vinegar and bringing attention to the…you know." Tyki gestured to his neck pointlessly. Lavi wanted to turn on his heels and walk away, but there was an earnestness in the supply teacher that held him rooted to the spot, one foot on the first step.

"Look its fine. Allen is just a bit of an overgrown puppy sometimes." Lavi put one hand on the bannister and stepped backwards on to the stairs. A sure signal to any normal person that he wanted to leave. "No need to apologise."

The hallway was empty, a fact that Lavi became painfully aware of as Tyki took a step closer and also placed his hand on the bannister. At this angle Lavi was forced to look up at the other man, noticing for the first time the mole just under his left eye.

"Was there something else?" Lavi ventured uncertainly.

The distance between them decreased rapidly. "You haven't seemed like yourself today," his voice just above a whisper. A small furrow formed in the space between his eyebrows. "If you ever need to talk about anything, I'm here for you."

"Thanks," Lavi replied. "I'll keep that in mind."

With nothing else to say, they stood there a moment longer, each trying to understand the other until a student appeared at the other end of the corridor and called out to Tyki making them both jump. Tyki's hand slipped off the bannister and turned to address the boy breaking the spell. Lavi let out a slow steady breath and somehow felt lighter than he had before. Still he left as fast as he could.


End file.
